Blue Branch Church

Front: Blue Branch Church was formally organized in 1870-71 as part of northern Presbyterians’ missions to southern freedpeople. Tradition holds that this site was previously a burial ground for enslaved people. The church’s first minister was Rev. Baker Russel (1819-1902). The first church was built here in 1871-72, at which time Blue Branch had 120 members and a Sunday school. Reverse: For at least a century, Blue Branch Presbyterian Church was a spiritual resource for Black residents of the Bullock Creek area. It was founded as part of the Atlantic Synod, the first of four African American synods in the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A. A new church was built in 1946, at which time a cornerstone bearing the year “1845” was added for unknown reasons. The congregation disbanded in 1972.